That Minivan was Flying!

David on the evening of December 4,2002: "Kelli, we need to call the doctor, you have had SIX contractions in one hour...!!!!!"

Kelli trying to go to sleep, David is bugging her to death by keeping his hand on her big pregnant belly to feel her very mild contractions: "David, I am fine, just go to sleep!!"

David, working button holes: "kelli, I am calling the doctor"

Kelli, getting very annoyed, I could barely feel these little contractions: "Whatever David", as she rolls back over to go back to sleep.

David on the phone with Dr. Moore: "Hey Dr. Moore, This is David Dart..Kelli has had six contractions in one hour!!" and Dr. Lawler said for us to call when this happens...."

Dr. Moore: "Ok David, let me talk to Kelli"

Kelli, very annoyed and embarrassed that he called dr. moore at midnight, getting ready to tell Dr. Moore that everything is fine, these contractions are very very mild: "Hey Dr. Moore" then SWOOOOSSHSHSHSH there goes my water......"Oh my gosh dr. moore, my water just broke"

Dr. Moore: "well you better get down here, I will see you soon" (all cool and calm)!

Kelli"omgosh david ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, go pack me some clothes and the twins some clothes......(a lesson i learned, pack early next time!)

Kelli dials pepper - omygosh momma, my water broke, OH KELL, she says.....momma, i need you to pack me some of jessi's clothes, b/c i dont trust David...Ok kell, we will meet you at the hospital...."terry, get up!" David is calling bill and patty!! oh my gosh we are so nervous.....That mini van was FLYING down the highway, we left grammie and poppa in the dust....David with the emergency lights on, flying through all of the redlights!! kelli, a nervous wreck, praying that we would even make it to the hospital ALIVE!!

Ok we did, and before i knew it we were in the delivery room...me with tears rolling down my face b/c i cant believe that I am about to become a momma...David is giddy and holding my hand, momma getting ready with the video camera, cool and calm.excited..her daughter is about to have some daughters....

Then after several pushes....HERE SHE IS!! a little old wrinkly lady with beady eyes looking all around - Genevieve Claire Dart..."IS she o.k. was my first question...She is so little!! Three pounds eleven ounces to be exact!!! She is fine the nurse says..and I know she is, I touch her little bitty cheek and cannot believe that she is out, a little tiny person wrapped up tight...not crying, just looking around....then I hear momma...sobbing sobbing sobbing....she is so proud...sob sob sob.....me too, the proudest moment of my life!!! Then some more pushing,,,oh no...i dont think i can do this again...so much pain...."You can do it" says David just like he is coaching football......six minutes later...out comes my BELLA,...they swooped her up and took her to the resuscitation room...i only got a little glance of her tiny self, but I heard her scream loud!! Is she ok...yes says the nurse, she just needs a little clearing out and some oxygen....David keeps kissing my wet cheeks and keeps saying "kelli, they are so beautiful!!!" oh my gosh...so much pain and love melted together....I am in awe, they are finally here, I think to myself...what do they look like, something that I have wondered for nine months or rather all my life...I have always wanted to be a momma before anything else, and i had always dreamed of what my children would look like...and now, here they are...two little old wrinkly ladies with beady eyes...one is a pound bigger and an inch longer...womb mates...best friends for life...tight as ticks as they say now!!!

Then the nurse comes in to say that they will be going to the NICU...everything is fine with them, they are just small....ok, I am so blessed, thank you Lord! then later that day we get settled in my room and David brings up our bags....well....in all the chaos of that morning when i told him to pack some things, here is what he packed:

Several 12 month outfits for our premature babies

a hand print kit, which consisted of concrete - he thought that they could do this in the nursery

some things for him and I, which I cant remember what he packed,(thank God for mom packing me some stuff),

But the funny thing was not what he packed, but what he packed our stuff in:

A PAIR OF DRAWSTRING SWEAT PANTS

Yes, you read that right, a pair of Mississippi College Football sweat pants: he packed all of the above in a pair of sweatpants and tied the legs together: TWO WORDS: RED NECK!!!
Even though our suitcases were right underneath our bed, he couldnt remember, and i was so flabergasted that i didnt notice that he was doing that.....well, here comes david, proud as can be with a pair of loaded down sweatpants draped over his shoulder, think Santa Clause..!! So embarrassing..I will never forget that!!He says that he was a boy scout and he is always prepared!! haha..

well for the next two weeks we are on the road between the nicu and moms house...

I have never been so tired and happy in all of my life (except for my next two girlies)!! David and I listen to Crazy Love by Van Morrison everytime we get into the van to go visit our little Loves...we sing every word...and we decide that this is the song that he will dance with them at their weddings....their special father daughter dance...

Maw is mad at me for naming my firstborn after her, but secretly she is so happy _ "she is not going to like that name, she says....I tell her..maw it is not about the name..it is about the person that she is named FOR!! then she smiles, so proud!! I am proud too, b/c If my little genevieve is anything like her namesake, that will be GOOD!! Then Isabella Louise ..I named her right....because she IS A BELLA..so beautiful as soon as I get a good look at her through the incubator I see how pretty she is...she is more filled out that evie, fat little cheeks and rounder eyes and head...she is named isabella Louise after pawee....and if she is anything like her namesake, that will be even BETTER!!! Named after her Paw, like I was named after my paw! Evie and Bella, they are a hit in the NICU, their little incubators are decorated with christmas decor, they smell so good and david and I get to bath them and feed them everyday! We are amazed at how tiny they are, little little little everything....We come home to march street with reports of how much they ate and how much they weighed...dreaming of the day when we can take them home...then it happens, we get to take Bella home...then I sob all the way home b/c we are leaving our little evie all alone and without her bella.....its ok, b/c a couple of days later, we bring the little grannie home!! and they are together again, i immediately swaddle them together, sisters missing each other, reunited!! and they sleep so calmly...

Fast forward six years later...time is flying...they are laying in their bed sleeping now, still swaddled together, now with a little sister in between them...blond curls everywhere, sleeping so calmly...love!

Evie and Bella,

Thank you for bringing so much joy to our lives...the moment you were born I realized so much, like what real fear is, how i could walk through fire without thinking...and what love is...a different kind of love, bittersweet, CRAZY LOVE...Daddy and I are so proud of you both, you are learning new things everyday and you amaze us with how sweet you are!! Thanks for being our little girls....we are the most blessed and our hearts swell with pride....Thank you JESUS!!